SHIELD helicarriers
The Helicarrier, a fictional aircraft carrier that can fly, is the signature capital ship of the fictional intelligence/defense agency S.H.I.E.L.D., usually shown in Marvel Comics-published comic book magazines. Originally designed by Jack Kirby for the Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. serial in Strange Tales #135 (August 1965), the Helicarrier concept has survived multiple redesigns while rarely straying from its originally depicted role as a mobile headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D. until recent years.The original helicarrier endured numerous trials, including surviving a take-over by the Viper which nearly crashed it into the White House. It eventually succumbed to sabotage and crashed in the Arizona desert in 1988. The most recognizable element of S.H.I.E.L.D., the helicarrier was the product of the most advanced technologies and minds in the aeronautic industry. Constructed in the late 1960's with help from Tony Stark and Reed Richards, the carrier served as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mobile HQ, permitting a global vigilance unmatched by any other force on Earth. Housing hundreds of agents and technicians, the carrier also serves as home to several squadrons of fighter aircraft, helicopters, and hover cars. Among its levels, the carrier holds divisions of all of the agency's various departments, including the ESPer Division. The entire command staff hold quarters aboard the carrier, while the lower ranks occupy military barracks-style rooms. By far the largest room is the multi-level bridge which includes the massive wrap-around glass wall found at the fore of the aircraft. When S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1990, the first priority was to build a new helicarrier. During the early months, S.H.I.E.L.D. operated as a small squad of agents while the second carrier was constructed in secret at the Grand Canyon. Overseen yet again by Reed Richards, this helicarrier utilized cutting edge computer diagnostic and controls imported from Wakanda, courtesy of Prince T'Challa. Basically following the same designs as the original, this second carrier was more streamlined and not as wide as its predecessor. Among the improvements installed were new security measures to prevent hijacking. In connection with the ESPer division, the computers aboard ship were made holistic with psionic countermeasures capable of neutralizing most mutant telekinetic abilities. Further measures include a stasis field in place all around the carrier which hold solid all silicate chips within the aircraft, thus any electronic media taken off the carrier instantly dissolves. As a final fail-safe, the carrier initiates a 24 hour self destruct sequence should a hijacking actually take place. During its tenure, the carrier endured countless near fatelaties, including a hijacking that nearly sent it crashing into the Sphinx in Egypt and an electronic assault by HYDRA which crippled its computers. Curiously, the mutant Wolverine became the only person to infiltrate the carrier twice. After Fury's "death", this carrier was mothballed and scuttled beneath the Atlantic Ocean where it currently rests as a training ground for series blue UDT maneuvers Put into service following the previous carrier's mothballing, the third carrier featured most of the traditional design elements of the first two. Eschewing the budget-conscious streamlining of the second model, the current helicarrier once again spans a monstrous berth, resembling if not out sizing the original carrier. The construction phase of the current version remains a highly classified and its suspected that much of its designs were undertaken without consultation with Fury. The existence of various secret levels within the carrier allows for speculation that entities such as EXTECHOP may have lent a hand in its construction and design. Most of the computer systems were designed by Agent Rigby Fallon, who graduated from M.I.T. at age seventeen. A daring raid by the Red Skull brought the helicarrer into his possession for a short time, during which his crew adapted it for underwater use in order to avoid detection. By the 21st century, SHIELD's budgets were such that they were operating multiple helicarriers which is just as well as various incidents such as the Hulk's return from outer space, the superhero civil war and the Skrull secret invasion lead to a number of carriers facing fatal crashes. Production of the helicarriers was streamlined to the point that new carriers could be produced in very short time. When Tony Stark took over as director of SHIELD, he had a golden helicarrier made as his command ship and shortly thereafter when SHIELD was disbanded and HAMMER was formed, Norman Osborne had his own designed. Nick Fury led a renegade band composed of the Secret Warriors and the mercenary group Howling Commandos to take the remaining SHIELD helicarriers from The Dock where they are stored. Fictional history In the Marvel Universe context of the various Nick Fury/S.H.I.E.L.D. series, the original design is attributed to a co-operative effort by Tony Stark, the mutant inventor Forge, and Reed Richards. According to an account in Amazing Fantasy vol. 2, #10, the first Helicarrier was proposed by Stark Industries as a political compromise among the signatories of the treaty in response to fears that any nation hosting the Directorate's main headquarters would be subject to attack by organizations such as HYDRA, with domestic political fallout sure to follow immediately thereafter. Over a dozen Helicarriers have been built over the decades, and at least two have been in simultaneous service in the last decade on several occasions. At least ten Helicarriers have been identified by name thus far. * Luxor - Not yet seen. A class prototype.* Hermes - Allegedly scuttled after being hijacked by the Red Skull.* Argus - A Luxor-class Helicarrier.* Behemoth - Specially designed Helicarrier commanded by Dum Dum Dugan for use against Godzilla in the 24-issue comic series Godzilla, King of the Monsters. First appearance was in issue #6 (January 1978). Destroyed by S.H.I.E.L.D. in an attempt to neutralize an attack by Amadeus Cho in Incredible Hercules #115.* Black Hawk - Destroyed in action against a HYDRA-Hand alliance of forces in Wolverine: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Further details on these events are depicted in The Irredeemable Ant-Man #1-2. Dark Reign: Elektra #1-5 gives more details, such as it having landed on a small Arkansas town.* Alpha - First mentioned by name in New Avengers #4. Also shown in the video game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance as S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier UNN Alpha.* Pericles III - Punisher War Journal vol. 2, #1.* Pericles V - Infiltrated by the vampiric Order of Tyrana and scuttled by Blade in Blade vol. 3, #1.* Samuel Sawyer - First appearance in Iron Man: Hypervelocity #3. Named for Nick Fury's World War II-era commanding officer in the United States Army.* Iliad - First shown in Secret Warriors #4. Named in Secret Warriors #17. Another Helicarrier of a different design is operating under that name as of Secret Avengers v.2 # 1.* Argonaut - First shown in Secret Warriors #4. Named in Secret Warriors #17.* Prometheus - Originally intended as Norman Osborn's H.A.M.M.E.R. flagship, the Prometheus was stolen from a secret U.S. facility in the Sonoran Desert by a rogue faction of S.T.R.I.K.E. during the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline. * Hercules - Capable of operating in submarine mode. Described as Constellation-class. First shown and named in Wolverine v.5 # 5-6.* Constellation - Class namesake. Existence implied by dialogue in Wolverine v.5 # 6.* Odyssey - First shown and named in Captain America: Living Legend # 1. After Iron Man replaced Maria Hill as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he designed a new class of Helicarrier whose red and gold design resembles the Iron Man Armor. Hill called it Helicarrier Gold, but Stark considered it The Helicarrier. This helicarrier was severely damaged and crashed by the Red Hulk, and subsequently commandeered by the Intelligencia (the covert operation of evil super-geniuses that employed the Red Hulk), who renamed it the "Hellcarrier". The main S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier is subsequently disabled by a computer virus unleashed by a Skrull agent posing as Edwin Jarvis, as part of the Secret Invasion. It lands in the Bermuda Triangle. Most of the staff are revealed to be Skrulls. The craft is destroyed by Maria Hill.Secret Invasion #3 (August 2008) It is not yet known what criteria S.H.I.E.L.D. used to name its Helicarriers. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s replacement agency, H.A.M.M.E.R., has decommissioned the surviving Helicarriers,Invincible Iron Man #17 (November 2009) with three of them — including the Iliad and the Argonaut — being stolen by Nick Fury.Secret Warriors #4-5 (July–August 2009) H.A.M.M.E.R. subsequently commissioned at least one new carrier to Norman Osborn's specifications, which was destroyed over Broxton, Oklahoma, during the Siege of Asgard. According to intel gathered by Livewires, 5 Helicarriers are known to have been wrecked,Livewires #4 (July 2005) though this data is out of date as several more have been lost since. Other versions Ultimate Marvel The Ultimate Universe deals with Helicarriers differently. Whereas on Marvel's Earth-616, it is implied that S.H.I.E.L.D. (a United Nations Task Force) only has a handful of Helicarriers in operation, in the Ultimate Universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. is depicted as a United States-operated military organization and is shown to have dozens of carriers, some even replacing retired conventional aircraft carriers like the [[USS Constellation (CV-64)|USS Constellation]]. The engines that keep the carrier aloft were designed by Tony Stark and were modular enough to be used in a space shuttle by the Ultimate Fantastic Four. These "Ultimate Universe" Helicarriers generally seem to be smaller than the Earth-616 versions, and have a more conventional aircraft carrier shape, but are far more plentiful. In Ultimate Avengers Vs New Ultimates #4, Nick Fury reveals that Hank Pym was the one who conceived and designed the Helicarriers.Ultimate Avengers Vs New Ultimates#4 In other media Television * The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier appears in the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode "Mission: Save the Guardstar". * The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier also appears in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. * Another version of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier appears in the final episode of X-Men Evolution. * A version of the Helicarrier appears in The Super Hero Squad Show, and serves as the base of operations for the Super Hero Squad. It is usually piloted by S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Ms. Marvel, who reluctantly allowed the Squad to move in. Since then, it has been nearly destroyed on two occasions. * The Helicarrier was featured in the Iron Man: Armored Adventures episode "Technovore", but instead of propellers keeping it aloft, it has jet engines (designed by Howard Stark). * S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarriers appear in the animated series The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. * The Helicarrier appears in Ultimate Spider-Man. It served as the training area for Spider-Man's team. In "Rise of the Goblin," the Helicarrier is destroyed by Green Goblin and crashes into the harbor. It was also revealed that Power Man, Iron Fist, Nova, and White Tiger lived on the Helicarrier. In "The Man-Wolf," the Helicarrier is rebuilt as the more versatile Tri-Carrier which can divide into three different ships: an Astro-Carrier (a space variant of the Helicarrier), an Aqua-Carrier (an underwater variant of the Helicarrier), and a Dragon-Carrier (a sky variant of the Helicarrier). In "Ultimate," Green Goblin salvages the Helicarrier as his "Hell-Carrier" as part of his plot to use Goblin Gas to turn everyone into Goblins. Green Goblin self-destructs the Hellcarrier in order to get it out of the Tricarrier's tractor beam. Film .]]* The first live-action incarnation of the Helicarrier appeared in the 1998 TV-movie ''Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. * Several of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarriers appear in the animated film Ultimate Avengers. They are destroyed by a trio of Chitauri vessels. * The Helicarrier shown in the 2012 film The Avengers has two stacked carrier decks, has a hull number of 64, and has optical camouflage capabilities.http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/the-avengers-2012/trailers/ The Helicarrier was modeled and animated by Industrial Light and Magic, but both ILM and Weta Digital collaborated on the Helicarrier attack sequence. * Multiple Helicarriers can be seen in a trailer for the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with hull numbers 42, 65, and 88. Video games * The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier is one of the main locations in the game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. The Helicarrier featured is referenced in the opening cinematic by Nick Fury as "S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier UNN Alpha". After the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier UNN Alpha is damaged from the Masters of Evil's attack, Fury uses Stark Tower as a base for his superhero allies that were recruited to stop Doctor Doom's Masters of Evil. This version also has jet engines replacing propellers. * The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier appears in the game Ultimate Spider-Man. It appears after Venom is unlocked, and when the player causes enough havoc in free roam to merit flying S.H.I.E.L.D. troopers. * The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier works as a headquarters of sorts in the game Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. * A S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier appears multiple times in the game Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. It is destroyed at the end of the game following the Venom monster's defeat. In the PSP and PS2 version, Spider-Man ends up on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier after his fight with the Tinkerer and discovers that the Helicarrier is infested with Symbiotes. After Spider-Man defeats Jackal, the Helicarrier crashes to the ground. * The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier is referenced but unnamed by General Ross in an extended scene in The Incredible Hulk when he states the government likes "big twin-rotor heliplanes that don't work". - This is a reference to the infamous reliability of the V-22 Osprey. * The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier makes a brief appearance in the game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. In the first cutscene, Captain America escapes from the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier when he wouldn't support the Superhuman Registration Act. In a later cutscene, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier was over the chemical plant owned by Stark Industries in a Pro-Registration plot to get the Anti-Registration forces to join up with them. * The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier appears in the game Iron Man 2. The preview video for the game reveals that Tony Stark was the one who built it. It is shown as the S.H.I.E.L.D. base throughout the game, but also as a weapon. At one point, it is attacked by A.I.M. forces. However, they are defeated by the combined forces of Iron Man and War Machine. At the end of the game, it is destroyed on purpose when it crashes into the giant Ultimo. * The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier appears in the background of one of the stages in the game Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. * The flight deck of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier serves as a hub in Marvel: Avengers Alliance. * The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier serves as the main headquarters in Lego Marvel Super Heroes. Novels * The 1988 Iron Man graphic novel Crash, which takes place in the future, introduces a S.H.I.E.L.D. "Levicarrier", which is held aloft by some form of anti-gravity mechanism. See also * Airborne aircraft carrier* Fictional airborne aircraft carriers References External links * Marvel Comics' official profile on the Helicarriers* Helicarriers' profile and story Category:Marvel Comics vehiclesCategory:Fictional airborne aircraft carriers